An experimental obesity drug, taken along with formal counseling on lifestyle changes, may spur greater weight loss than counseling alone, a new study finds.

The study of nearly 800 obese adults examined the effects of a drug called Contrave — which combines the antidepressant bupropion (Wellbutrin) and naltrexone, a medication used to treat alcohol and drug addiction.

The trial is one of four studies that the drug’s developer, Orexigen Therapeutics, has sponsored in a bid to win approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The other trials have so far shown that Contrave generally outperforms placebo pills in spurring weight loss; in one, for instance, study participants on the drug lost an average of 6 percent of their initial weight over one year, compared with just over 1 percent among placebo users.

The current findings support the previous results, and suggest that combining the medication with counseling on diet and lifestyle would provide further benefits, the researchers report in the journal Obesity.

They found that over one year, participants in the drug-plus-counseling group lost 9 percent of their initial weight, on average — versus an average of 5 percent among those who received behavioral counseling plus a placebo.

Orexigen recently filed for FDA approval of Contrave and has said that it expects the agency to give a ruling early next year.

The drug is one of three experimental weight-loss medications currently under FDA scrutiny. Later this week, an advisory panel to the agency is set to review Qnexa, a weight-loss drug developed by Vivus Inc. The drug combines phentermine, an appetite suppressant, with topiramate, an epilepsy medication that also happens to help control appetite. In documents made public on Tuesday, FDA staff said Onexa appears to help people shed pounds, but concerns remain about its safety.

The third candidate drug — lorcaserin, developed by Arena Pharmaceuticals Inc. — acts on certain receptors in a portion of the brain that regulates appetite and metabolism.

For its part, Contrave is believed to act on brain pathways involved in food craving.

These latest findings are based on 793 obese men and women who were randomly assigned to take either Contrave or a placebo for one year in addition to 28 sessions of group counseling on diet, exercise and behavioral tactics for encouraging weight loss — like eating more slowly and avoiding temptations.

Researchers led by Dr. Thomas A. Wadden, of the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, found that after 56 weeks, the Contrave group shed more pounds overall. Just over 41 percent lost 10 percent or more of their starting weight, versus 20 percent of the placebo group; 29 percent lost at least 15 percent of their initial weight, compared with 11 percent of placebo users.

It remains to be seen what role, if any, Contrave or its would-be competitors might have in battling obesity, which now affects about one-third of U.S. adults.

Weight-loss drugs have had a troubled history, starting in 1997 when the medication known as “fen-phen” was withdrawn from the market after being linked to fatal heart-valve problems.

One component of that medication, fenfluramine, was taken off the market; the other, phentermine (now a component of Qnexa) is generally considered safe at low doses.

There are currently two weight-loss medications FDA-approved for longer-term use: sibutramine (Meridia) and orlistat (Xenical), the latter also being available in a lower-dose, over-the-counter version called Alli.

Those medications have had their problems as well. Meridia carries warnings about high blood pressure and a risk of heart attack and stroke in patients with heart problems, and is no longer sold in Europe. Xenical can cause serious liver problems, uncontrolled bowel movements and gas.

Among the side effects so far seen with Contrave are nausea, constipation, dizziness, abdominal pain and ringing in the ears. In the current study, 34 percent of Contrave users reported nausea, while one-quarter reported constipation — compared with 10 percent and 14 percent, respectively, in the placebo group.

The side effects were reported mainly during the first month of treatment, according to Wadden’s team.

Besides the issue of side effects, experts generally caution people to temper their expectations regarding the effectiveness of any weight-loss drug. They stress that none is considered a “magic pill” that will work without the help of diet changes and regular exercise.

One of the FDA criteria for judging a weight-loss medication effective is that its average weight loss beat a placebo by 5 percentage points, which is a relatively modest benefit.

Still, research indicates that even moderate weight loss — 5 to 10 percent of a person’s starting weight — can have health benefits for someone who is obese.

In the current study, Contrave users saw, along with their greater weight loss, a larger reduction in triglycerides (a type of blood fat) and insulin levels, and a greater gain in “good” HDL cholesterol levels.

SOURCE: http://link.reuters.com/byx37m Obesity, online June 17, 2010.

Technorati Tags: Contrave, naltrexone, obesity drug, Weight Loss, wellbutrin

They’re out there on the Web: Sites that offer tips to successful purging or water-only fasts; others that list methods of hiding rapid weight loss from parents and doctors.

If the proliferation of these pro-anorexia and pro-bulimia Web sites isn’t bad enough, eating disorder experts say they now have to contend with “pro-ana” and “pro-mia” bloggers and “thinspiration” Twitter updates sent right to an interested party’s mobile phone.

“They are reaching very vulnerable youth,” said Dina Borzekowski, an associate professor in Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. “When you have the Internet used all times of the night, kids have easy access to it. It’s anonymous. They can gain support for what they’re doing and information.”

For their new study, Borzekowski and colleagues conducted a systematic review of 180 pro-eating disorder sites. What they found was both surprising and frightening.

About 91 percent of sites were open to the public — though many warned that “wannabes” should stay away — and about 79 percent had interactive features, such as calorie and body-mass index (BMI) calculators.

About 16 percent had a “creed” or “oath to Ana,” such as the “Thin Commandments,” or 10 rules for eating disorders, such as: “Thou shall not eat without feeling guilty,” “Thou shall not eat fattening food without punishing oneself afterward,” and “What the scale says is the most important thing.”

About 42 percent provided a venue for posting artwork and poetry, some of it disturbing:

“some look at us and call us crazy
how little they really know
they pass us by and stare
like we’re in some sickly show
don’t they see?
It is not us who is at fault
They kill their bodies with fats and grease
but we give our bodies nothing at all.”

“Thinspiration,” such as photos or videos of very thin models and actresses, were on 85 percent of the sites. And about 43 percent provided specific instructions on concealing eating disorders, according to the study.

Patients with eating disorders have been known to go to great lengths to hide their weight loss, explained Dr. Ira Sacker, an eating disorder specialist, including drinking lots of water before being weighed and hiding weights in their clothes.

About one-third of sites did include information about recovery or treatment, though only 13 percent of sites contained an overt statement that eating disorders are a problem.

“Some people who create these messages stand behind what they are doing, while another fraction realize this is troubling and they are suffering,” Borzekowski, said. “You get mixed messages.”

The study is published in the June 17 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Previous research suggests that teens exposed to pro-eating disorder Web sites do have higher levels of body dissatisfaction compared to adolescents that have not been exposed. Other studies found that teens who spent time on these sites tend to have harder-to-treat eating disorders, according to background information in the study.

Sacker has been treating patients with eating disorders for some 40 years. He can remember his dismay when he first started seeing pro-eating disorder sites pop up in the early 1990s.

“These are really scary,” Sacker said. “The people on these sites want to be using the eating disorder as their identity, and they want to communicate with others like them. That makes them believe there is a safety in it and a community behind it, which reinforces that what they are doing is OK. It’s almost like a cheerleading group.”

In 2001, the search engines Yahoo and MSN agreed to shut down overtly pro-eating disorder sites, according to background information in the article.

It didn’t make much of a dent, Sacker said. Over time, online offerings for those with eating disorders have only gotten more sophisticated. The text and a photos of skeletal models has morphed into videos, voice-overs, blogs and Facebook groups.

“Parents need to be aware and have boundaries about what their kids are doing on Facebook or on these sites,” Sacker said. “Even though some sites talk about recovery, the majority can worsen or prolong the illness.”

Though there are many exceptions, the typical profile of someone with an eating disorder is a highly intelligent, motivated perfectionist who “feels they are not good enough, no matter what they do, and are looking for some form of control,” Sacker said.

The content of pro-eating disorder sites reflected those themes, with 83 percent talking about “success,” 81 percent “control,” 80 percent “perfection” and 76 percent “solidarity,” according to the paper.

People with eating disorders may also have depression, anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder or other mental health conditions.

The obsession with weight loss obscures all else, Sacker said. “They become totally preoccupied by looking at mirrors. They know more about nutrition than most nutritionists. They lose friends and become socially isolated because of it,” Sacker said.

Medications, including mood stabilizers, anti-anxiety drugs and antidepressants can help some with eating disorders, Sacker said.

Technorati Tags: eating disorders, pro eating disorder, rapid weight loss, Weight Loss

While obesity puts people at risk for a whole host of chronic illnesses, including heart disease, there’s a least one situation in which extra pounds appear to provide a health advantage.

Oddly, once someone has already had a heart attack, obesity seems to confer protection against further heart problems, a new study suggests.

The results show that among 1,231 heart failure patients (those who have already had a heart attack), underweight, normal weight and overweight (but not obese) individuals had a 76 percent increase in risk of sudden cardiac death compared with obese patients.

Sudden cardiac death, which kills up to 330,000 Americans each year, occurs when the heart suddenly stops beating. This is different from a heart attack, which happens when blood flow to the heart is interrupted.

The findings, presented March 16 at the American College of Cardiology Annual Scientific Session, add to a growing body of research on this phenomenon, known as the “obesity paradox.” Several studies have come to the same puzzling conclusion: Obese patients with heart disease seem to do better and live longer than skinnier patients.

The results even surprised the researchers. “When we started this study we were hoping the data would disprove the obesity paradox,” said study author Bonnie Choy, a second-year medical student at the University of Rochester’s School of Medicine and Dentistry.

And the findings held true even when they broke the data down and examined underweight, normal weight and overweight people in separate categories instead of lumping them all in one group, Choy said.

“We still the saw an inverse relationship between BMI and sudden cardiac death.” BMI, or body mass index, is a ratio of weight to height, and is considered an indicator of how much body fat a person has. The researchers defined obese as someone with a BMI of 30 or greater.

No one knows why obesity seems to bring benefits in this case, though several ideas have been tossed around. For instance, it’s possible that obese individuals have a genetic advantage when it comes to surviving heart failure, the University of Rochester researchers suggest.

“Obese patients are hard on their bodies; many don’t eat right, don’t exercise, and many smoke,” said study researcher Eric Hansen, a second-year medical student at the University. “If their bodies are surviving this bad treatment then perhaps they are better equipped, from a genetic standpoint, to live with heart failure.”

On the flip side, thinner people with heart disease might be genetically prone to developing heart problems, since their heart condition arose despite their weight.

In addition, other factors, like scarring from a previous heart attack, may cause more problems over the short term than obesity causes over the long term.

The students conducted the study with Dr. Ilan Goldenberg, a professor of cardiology.

Technorati Tags: heart disease, heart problems, Heart Problems protection, obesity

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – People who are obese may have an increased risk of developing the neurological disorder restless legs syndrome (RLS), researchers reported Monday.

In a study of more than 88,000 U.S. adults, researchers at Harvard Medical School found that obese men and women were 42 percent more likely to have RLS than normal-weight study participants.

Abdominal obesity, in particular, was linked to RLS risk. Study participants with the largest waistlines had a 60 percent greater risk than those with the trimmest midsections, according to findings published in the journal Neurology.

RLS causes unpleasant sensations in the legs when a person is at rest, triggering an uncontrollable urge to move the legs to get relief. The cause is unknown, but researchers suspect that an imbalance in the movement-regulating brain chemical dopamine plays a role. Drugs that increase dopamine activity are sometimes used to treat RLS.

Past research has shown that obese adults tend to have lower dopamine activity in the brain than their thinner counterparts, but the relationship between obesity and RLS has been unclear.

“Our study suggests that obesity could be a risk factor for RLS,” lead researcher Dr. Xiang Gao told Reuters Health. However, the findings do not prove that obesity leads to RLS, and further studies that follow people over time are needed to confirm obesity as a risk factor, Gao added.

In theory, dopamine could help explain the connection between obesity and RLS. But Gao said there are likely to be multiple mechanisms through which excess weight contributes to the neurological disorder.

One possibility, he noted, is the higher risk of heart disease among overweight adults. Studies have found links between cardiovascular disease and RLS, and it’s thought that dysfunction in the blood vessels may play a role in RLS.

Technorati Tags: neurological disorder, obese, obese adults, obesity, restless legs syndrome

If you believe you are suffering from bacterial vaginosis, it is important you have your symptoms properly diagnosed. The reason for this is that it is possible you may actually have a yeast infection, which requires a different treatment. With that out of the way, let’s get to what you really want to know; possible home remedy treatments for BV.

The post is designed to give you exactly what you want, bacterial vaginosis home remedies that have worked for others that could work for you. Before we get into the treatments, just one more disclaimer: It is recommended that you consult with a physician about these home treatments.

One of the most popular home treatments is the use of yogurt, both through consumption and external application. You should try to eat a balanced diet anyway, but adding daily yogurt to your diet could help the good bacteria overtake the bad bacteria that cause bv symptoms. You should make sure that the yogurt you consume contains acidophilus. To use yogurt as an external application, you may try coating a tampon with yogurt and inserting for a few hours.

Another popular remedy is to drink at least 4oz of cranberry juice every day. You might also try garlic. Here is one way to use it: Peel a garlic clove and wrap it in something such as gauze. You can then tie something around it such as dental floss and insert it. You can then leave it in for a few hours and then remove it by pulling the dental floss. If that remedy is too uncomfortable you can also take garlic in pill form, but it might not be as quick.

You might also try to Wash the infected area daily with warm salt water, making sure that you keep yourself dry afterwards. Remember, good hygiene can help prevent bacterial vaginosis, but it doesn’t mean you have bad hygiene if you get it. Make sure you wear clean underwear and avoid clothes that are too tight.

Technorati Tags: bacterial vaginosis, bacterial vaginosis home remedies, bv symptoms, bv treatment

Did you know that employer based health insurance provides coverage for over ten million Americans?  That is a big number, don’t you think?  Do you know what happens if those employees lose their jobs, quit, retire, or their company goes out of business?  They will simply lose their coverage and be in need to health insurance.  At this point, if one of these things happens to you, you have two options.  One, you can research and find your own insurance plan, or you have the option to get COBRA insurance.

If you are in good health, you shouldn’t have any problem finding an open enrollment health insurance policy for you and your family.  You should also have no problem finding competitive premiums either.  If you are in poor health, it might be a little bit harder to obtain insurance.  Because you pose a high risk for health problems, insurance companies are less likely to insure you or charge you a premium so high that you cannot afford it.

It is important to begin looking at your options as soon as you lose your employer covered health coverage.  COBRA is great because it allows you up to 18 months of health coverage while you find a new plan.  You should begin looking for your new plan right away because of health or injury concerns.  You never know, you might not qualify for a health plan in two month that you would have been able to qualify for right when you lost your job.

In summary, it is crucial that you always are insured in case of an accident or illness.  You should obtain this health coverage while you are in good health.  Once you obtain coverage, you can keep it as long as you need it.  The insurance company cannot drop you after you are insured by them.

In summary it is always advisable to obtain permanent health insurance coverage while you are in good health. Once accepted, you can keep this coverage for as long as you need it. If you rejoin a group plan later, you may elect to drop the coverage or maintain it if you feel that you have a superior plan.

Technorati Tags: Enrolllment Health Insurance

Genital Warts are infections that generally occur around the skin, but they are more prevalent around the genitals. The human papilloma virus (HPV) is solely responsible for genital warts. This virus will attack the membranes in the region of the genitals and often leave behind warts or sores. These often become uncomfortable to the patient, leaving him or her with no choice than to look for some form of genital wart treatment.

However, a lot of patients with genital warts often fail to to take appropriate action because genital warts are not always easily noticeable. Usually, small warts may appear which look like any other skin infection. A detail clinical test will have to be conducted to determine the presence of genitals warts.

One strange thing about genital warts is that in a number of cases, these warts can either disappear without you resorting to any genital wart relief treatments. What is important for you to take note of is that there is no cure for the virus that is responsible for genital warts. Once you are infected with the genital wart virus it will remain in your body for the rest of your life. A lot of medics believe that there should be no need for a genital wart relief treatment because no remedy will alter the course of the virus. This does not however mean that there should not be any form of genital wart relief as a lot can be done to relieve the patient who experiences the discomforts and to stop the warts from further infecting other parts of the body, or even other persons.

Technorati Tags: genital warts, genital warts relief, genital warts tretment, hpv, wartrol

Acomplia - Weight Loss medication
Acomplia is specifically designed to treat the problem of obesity. This weight loss medication is prescribed to people with increased levels of obesity. Some overweight people with health problems such as type 2 diabetes, low HDL cholesterol, or high triglycerides can also take Acomplia weight loss medication.

About Acomplia Rimonabant
Acomplia is a prescription diet pill. It is also known by the generic name Rimonabant. This weight loss medication is widely prescribed to people with overweight problems. Acomplia Rimonabant is a weight loss medication, which works by targeting factors such as the body’s appetite, metabolism and energy use.

Acomplia Rimonabant pills are manufactured by French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-Aventis. Many clinical trials of this weight loss medication have proved that it helps reduce up to ten percent of body weight.

Ingredients
The main ingredient in Acomplia is Rimonabant, which works as an appetite suppressant. It acts as a cannabinoid type I (CB1) receptor inhibitor and works to block these brain receptors, which influence factors such as food intake and body’s ability to break down sugars and fats in the blood. Over the course of treatment, a person loses considerable body weight as his/her food consumption reduces.

Strengths
Acomplia is available in the strength of 20mg capsule. You should follow the recommendations of your GP regarding the dosage of Acomplia. If you buy Acomplia online, then you should extract full information about this weight loss medication from the online source.

Side effects
The most common side effects of Acomplia are dizziness, diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, hot flushes, skin disorders, mood alterations, and respiratory tract infections. Some psychiatric side effects of the acomplia diet may include depression, anxiety, and nervousness. If you suffer from any major reactions or discomfort due to intake of Acomplia dosages, then you should take immediate medical help.

Availability
Acomplia weight loss medication is widely available in European countries as it has been approved by the European Union. Acomplia is also available in the UK since its approval in the year 2006.

Acomplia is also available online. You can buy Acomplia after doing an online consultation from any licensed online clinic. Internet has made life of people very easy. So, buying weight loss medications online may be a convenient option.

It helps you buy Acomplia without putting in any physical efforts. It requires you to fill in an online questionnaire, which asks for all your medical as well as personal details. The medical details help the doctor evaluate your exact medical condition. You should provide only correct details in the form.

If the doctor feels it right, then you are provided a prescription, which allows you to buy Acomplia online. In some cases, the doctor may not issue a prescription due to possible allergic reactions on the patient. In that case, the doctor suggests another suitable drug. However, these are very rare cases and doctors mostly recommend Acomplia weight loss medication to patients who struggle with overweight problems.

Technorati Tags: acomplia, acomplia medication, acomplia online, acomplia pills, acomplia rimonabant

The Acomplia diet program has been proven effective as part of a weight loss supplement for many individuals. According to reviews and information the Acomplia weight loss system allows people to avoid food cravings they would normally have and ultimately help to assist in curbing the appetite for those in between meal snacks.

However an individual starting this type of weight loss program should realize that exercise and eating properly is an essential key to losing the weight and maintaining a good weight as well.

The weight loss program also aids in the aspect of keeping those unwanted pounds from ultimately returning too. Many individuals and consumers that have already used Acomplia have placed their reviews and testimonials on several various web sites via the Internet. By doing a search of the Acomplia diet program an individual will find that there are several web sites related to the product and those which offer additional details and information.

The ingredient Rimonabant aids in the weight loss and the areas such as waist and other hard to lose weight areas are actually targeted as a result. Weight loss will vary for each individual person and the results will not happen over night. The diet program should only be used as directed for the best possible results in an effort to lose your weight.

Those unwanted pounds soon become a thing of the past and according to statistics the Acomplia diet is becoming more popular as time goes by.

In addition there are web sites that reveal speculation that this diet program is a source of controlling weight gain in the future for an individual. However eating right and those foods with a low fat and good nutritional value are a good idea too.

By obtaining information about the Acomplia weight loss program an individual can see that many different individuals have been achieving results that are noticeable. And those individuals who have purchased the weight loss program also say that the over all price of the product is more than reasonable when the ultimate result is losing weight and being healthy.

Weight loss is only achieved by commitment as well, however with this weight loss program set into action that determination is easy to use because the diet pills are so effective in the overall sense of being on a diet. Some people feel as though they really aren’t on a diet mainly because they do not feel hungry all the time and can get through the day by eating reasonable meals.

This diet program offers individuals a chance to have a weight loss program that works and with a proper way of being on a diet individuals are actually capable of losing substantial amounts of unwanted and unhealthy weight.

The products for the Acomplia weight loss program are available in various locations in the UK, as well as being found via the Internet. People world wide have purchased the product via the Internet to date, and are happy with their results.

Technorati Tags: acomplia medication, acomplia pills, acomplia reviews, acomplia weight loss, rimonabant

What is Obesity?

Obesity is excess fat in the body. Body fat is necessary for everyone, but excess body fat can cause serious health problems.

How do you measure obesity?

Generally, when you measure weight, it does not denote whether you are overweight or obese. Therefore, you need to take BMI test, which is the most accurate method for measuring obesity.

What is BMI?

BMI is an acronym for Body Mass Index. It calculates obesity level by dividing your body weight in kg by your height in meter square. For example, if you are weighing 86 kg with a height of 178 cm, then your BMI is 86/1.78 2 - 27.14

You can consult the below given BMI chart to know in which category you fall.

18.5-24.9 - Healthy Weight

25 to 29.9 - Over weight

30 to 39.9 - Obese

40 or 59.9 - Morbidly Obese

Reasons of Obesity

There is more than one reason for obesity. Your body weight is a result of combination of factors such as genetic, metabolic, behavioral, environmental, cultural, and socioeconomic influences.

Overweight or obesity occurs due to an imbalance between excessive calorie consumption and inadequate physical activity. Life style changes and behavioral habits are also important reasons for obesity. However, behavioral and environmental factors that are responsible for obesity can be changed. They also give you an opportunity for prevention and treatment of obesity apart from effective anti-obesity medicines such as Xenical.

What is Xenical?

It is an oral prescription pill, which is used for treatment of obesity. Glaxo SmithKline (GSK), manufacturer of Xenical, claims that this anti-obesity drug can help you lose 50% more weight than dieting alone.

Ingredients of Xenical

Active ingredient of Xenical is orlistat. It does not affect your diet but works by reducing the ability of your body to absorb fats from food. You can take Xenical in strengths of 60mg capsules three times a day with meals for effective results.

Xenical reduces fat absorption in the body by one third. This can also lower the amount of vitamins absorbed by the body including vitamins A, D, E and K, which are fat-soluble vitamins. Doctors usually prescribe supplements with Xenical medication to make up for the loss of important vitamins along with fats.

Benefits of Xenical

You can get many benefits on taking Xenical apart from losing weight. This anti-obesity drug reduces blood pressure levels in the body. It also reduces triglycerides in the body. Major benefit of taking Xenical medication is that it reduces the chance of developing type 2 diabetes diseases among users.

Who can take Xenical?

You can take Xenical medication only if you are truly obese or overweight with certain medical conditions. Doctors generally prescribe this drug to people with BMI greater than or equal to 30 kg/m2 or 27 kg/m2 and suffer from other risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes or increased serum cholesterol. You can take this drug after medical consultation and you should be willing to make permanent changes in your eating and exercise habits

Availability of Xenical

You can buy Xenical online as well as from a local pharmacy. As the process to buy Xenical online is quite simple and easy, many people prefer to buy it online. It gives you many options to research about various sources that sell Xenical online. You can easily select a reliable and genuine online store, which sells original Xenical medication.

Why should you choose Xenical for the Treatment of Obesity?

Manufacturer of Xenical says that this anti-obesity drug is not a magic pill. You should not expect it to work as a quick fix method for reducing your body fat. However, Xenical is a powerful motivator and can produce effective results if you complement it with healthy low-fat diet and increased exercise.

Technorati Tags: weight loss information, weight loss treatment, xenical, xenical medication, xenical pills